Happy Birthday

 

Happy Birthday To You!

27 years ago I held my second child (Tammy) in my arms...she was a little stubborn as she wasn't ready to enter this world on her given date of September 3rd....she decided to come 9 days later and almost without any warning...she gave us stories to talk about on how we almost didn't make it to the hospital and almost being born in a van.

 

Hope your day is as special as you are!

Happy Birthday My Love!

Toby Keith and Friends

So Saturday some great girlfriends and myself got together for a Toby Keith concert.

We had a pre-party at my house before heading to The Woodlands for the show.

Stacy...Teri...myself...Fonda...Stefanie and Kelley

Above...myself with Stacy and Fonda...these 2 have been the constant 2 friends I have had...we have known each other for 20 years and have been constant friends for that long (meaning that we have been in each others life for that time period)....always finding the time between raising a family and just day to day life to make sure we have our time together as friends...they are also my partners in the yearly "Grandma's Gone Wild" trips...I think #6 happens in February...we also had girls that were friends with each other, and Tammy and Tara (Stacy's daughter) we're in kindergarten together.

 Above: Myself and Teri

Out of all these ladies Teri is the one I have known the longest...she was maid of honor at my wedding...and we go back to some good ole' honky tonkin' days...though in the middle of me raising a family we lost touch, we found our back together about 4 years and it was like we never had parted ways...true friendship testing the bounds of time.

Above: Stefanie...myself and Stacy....

Though Stefanie and I don't have a lot of history we have had some good times together....Stefanie and Stacy are sisters so that is where our history lies...Stefanie is a sweet girl and a joy to hangout with.

 

And here we are ready to hop our ride for the evening

Below: Myself and Kelley 

Kelley and I probably would of never became the friends we have become if it wasn't for a tragic loss in my life (though I like to think we would of have)...There is about 8 1/2 years between Kelley and I...she was my neighbor when we had moved to the country...she had 2 kids and 1 on the way as where I had 1 in college and 1 in high school and another almost there...I was nearing the end of my raising kids and she was still beginning....as you can see, we were both at different places in our lives....during the time I have known Kelley she has gone way beyond what any friendship would require...I am truly thankful she came into my life.

Below: David and myself...the best limo driver ever! He is always on my request list.

Once making the concert we headed to The House of Blues on site before heading to our seats..

Me and my Kelley...

Sometimes I wonder if she thinks, why am I hanging out with this crazy old broad.

 and then my Fonda

And then it was Toby time...we had excellent seats...about 5th row from the stage...some people don't care about the seats...they just wanna hear the music...not me...if I just wanted to listen to the music I would sit at home in my jammies and put on a CD...I like to be able to see and feel a part of the moment....I wanna reach out and touch someone.

 Red Solo Cup....

 Let's have a party!

Was a great night....best part was being with my girls...David got us to my house all safe and sound and where we all slept like babies.

 

Thanks for the memory girls!



Grandparents Day

Friday was Grandparents Day and I was called to see if I could join Colton for lunch on Friday at school...and then that evening I got a message that Tayler was having Grandparents Day Tea at her preschool.

Tayler's was at 9 am and Colton's at 10:30 am...

 

Jenn was leaving town and both my others girls had school that day....so what do you do?

You close your store and post on facebook and put a sign in the window that you'll open at Noon cause you have Grandparents Day.

Sometimes somethings are just more important than the mighty dollar.

 Colton had called the night before to see if I could bring McDonald's to school for him..he had seen other kids with it before when parents have come to school to eat with their kids...so I said sure...I had a few extra minutes between leaving Tayler's school and getting to Colton's.

 But McDonald's doesn't serve lunch until 10:30 and Colton's lunch is at 10:30...so I went next door to Jack In The Box...he was still happy with the hamburger just the same and ate all his food.

It was a fun time spending with my babies...I have waited for a long time to attend a Grandparents Day event at school...can't wait to do that with the other ones as well.

 

Colton didn't want me leave, he wanted me to stay at school with him...and Tayler didn't want me to go either that she cried and I felt so bad...she's such a sensitive little thing.

 

I'm a blessed Muggy, Grams and Grandma to have such beautiful grandchildren.

I love you Colton, Hayden, Liam, Tayler and Noah!



Switzerland...Day 3...Our Final Farewell

 

So today I will share with you our last day in Switzerland...I must warn you....it's possible this post will be long...I don't want to prolong the end so I will show you everything in one last travel post.

 

As I write this I'm trying to upload a video as to not post as many pictures but having a hard time getting it to load...so, if you get to the end of this post and no video you know why.

 We had decided to head out to Schaffhausen and visit Rhein Falls, the biggest waterfall in Europe...it's a mini version of Niagara Falls but no else beautiful.

 We had missed our stop to get off the train so we had to get off at the next stop and back track...we saw a DHL guy so we asked which way to walk and he showed us a path that would take us a long the banks of the river Rhein...It was only a couple miles and a beautiful walk.

 the pictures you have seen above and some below is some of what we saw on our journey to the falls....I love seeing what I call Christmas trees just growing in yards and sun light on them and they don't dry up.

 

What a view to have out your backyard.

 It was a pleasant walk and such a beautiful day...the weather could not of been any better.

 and a guy sun bathing...

 I know...just beautiful...not the guy...the view between the trees

 you can tell we are getting closer as the water current is getting stronger and you can hear the sound of the water

 pictures do not do this place justice....

 we will be walking over that bridge...there is a walk way on each side and a train track in the middle

 before getting close up to the falls we of course had to buy a ticket....we just opt for the one that gave us the view...you can take a boat ride and get closer but we felt like we had already done that in Niagara that the view was just fine.

 

We actually experienced Niagara Falls together so it was cool to experience this one as well.

 so to get to the falls we went through the grounds of Laufen Castle..a small castle and very beautiful...we did not go in....the view from the outside was good enough

 a beautiful fountain

 

 we have arrived...a big rock type of thing in the middle that has a platform at the bottom that a boat will drop you off and you can walk up it and the boat comes back and picks you up....not a big area to stand on but looked cool all the same.

 more of the falls

and then here is some video (I hope that turns out...I guess I'll find out when I post this post)

 

 

After we had seen the falls and took all the pictures we could take it was time to head back to the train top...the correct one right outside the falls...no back tracking for this girl...I already made that walk.

 

While waiting I thought it would be cool to get a picture of a train tunnel...how many times will that opportunity happen.

 a little countryside on the way back....in all the open land around us we saw 2 bikers

 there were tons of fields filled with sunflowers

 more countryside

 Once back in Zurich we went back to the hotel...freshened up and decided to head out for a early dinner...we walked around a little and decided to try this place...we sat outside and it was directly across the river from our hotel...we  saw this place every night from across the river of our hotel.. it was a good choice.

 

 

we enjoyed a nice light meal and 2 bottles of wine plus one extra glass each...

it was a good choice to spend our last night.

We had a little language barrier with the waitress but she couldn't of been more friendly and really tried to communicate.

 

We sat and talked about our trip, how we were sad to see it end and enjoyed the view of our hotel.

After we were done we decided to walk some of the wine off .

 

 and us being silly...taking pictures of each other

and our last picture together on our European Vacation.

 

We had a wonderful time...had good weather...no rain...the only rain happened when we were in another town.

 

I will say that I enjoyed Switzerland, it is beautiful and the weather was to die for but I so loved Italy...and had I known how much I would of enjoyed Italy we would of spent those last 3 days in another Italian city instead of heading to Switzerland...but still, the whole trip was fantastic....I think about it everyday, especially San Marco square in Venice...I wish every night could be in San Marco square.

 

I loved Italy SOOOO much that I told my cousin to save up, that we are headed back in either the fall of 2013 or the beginning of 2014...I need to go and see the other Italian cities I have not seen yet...and if you decide you want to travel to Italy and need a travel companion, I'm your girl, just call.

 

For those of you that followed my travels on this blog...thank you for taking the time and allowing me to share with you...hopefully you'll return for more blog post to come...I blog on what means something to me...so you never know...you may find yourself on the bog with a great tale to tell.